Canceled Toms River Parking Garage Work Revisited As Concrete Crumbles
TOMS RIVER, NJ — Toms River Mayor Daniel Rodrick says a structural engineer is taking another look at the Toms River Township parking garage, a month after rejecting a bid for repairs to the structure.
Rodrick made the statement in response to a question from Councilman James Quinlisk at Wednesday’s Township Council meeting about a resolution approving a contract for beach replenishment in Ortley Beach.
Since the township council at the Feb. 28 meeting rejected a bid for repairs to the parking structure, pieces of concrete have fallen in several places along the center of the middle deck of the structure.
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A walk through the area on March 22 showed plainly visible cracks in the concrete, rust streaks from rusting steel supports in the structure, and visibly deteriorating concrete.
“The garage clearly has some issues,” Rodrick said to Quinlisk. “I ordered a new engineering report.”
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But he reiterated his complaint from when the council rejected a bid for the repairs to the structure: “I’m not paying $500,000 just to paint the garage,” he said. “It needs paint and stucco. It’s about aesthetics.”
The bid rejected in February, by Brave Industrial Paint LLC of Long Branch, was for more than just paint and stucco repairs, according to the bid documents publicly available on OpenGov.com, a government project bidding website.
The bid documents detail a lengthy list of repairs to the concrete structure, to address areas where water infiltration has led to rusting of the steel supports (called rebar) within the concrete and that has caused the concrete to crumble (called spalling), along with replacing materials between joints in the concrete, and replacement of drains on the parking surface to remove rainwater and reduce water infiltration.
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Repairs to the stucco, repairs to the retaining wall and replacement of deteriorating wooden guardrails in the parking area are included in the bid documents.
Painting that would be done is a specialized sealant that helps reduce water infiltration, according to the bid documents.
A plan for the repairs, with explanations of what needs to be done, shows all of the repairs included in the package from the top deck to the bottom and the exterior needs.
The bid package, which was posted Dec. 22, 2023, with a bid closing date of Jan. 11, 2024, addressed the issues raised in the structural report on the parking structure from April 2019 by Maser Consulting, which is now Colliers Engineering.
In the report, project engineer William Doll said the parking garage, which was built in 1977 and underwent renovations in 2011, was showing signs of water damage and normal wear and tear.
“Based on our office’s noted observations of the parking garage levels and retaining wall, it is our office’s opinion that the deterioration observed has been caused by general wear and tear and water damage,” the report said. “However, at this time the deterioration has not caused significant structural damage to the parking garage levels and retaining walls, but if left untreated, the deterioration may further expand and eventually cause structural damage.”
“To maintain the structural integrity of the parking garage and retaining walls, the recommended repairs should be applied and a general maintenance program should be provided,” the report said.
Doll’s report recommended checking the condition of the concrete every 5 to 10 years for signs of new deterioration.
The report was not acted upon in 2019. A 2022 proposal for services from Colliers Engineering was the first indication its recommendations were being addressed.
“In order to mitigate water infiltration and future damage to the concrete, insuring the quality of the compressible filler at all slab joints is important,” the report said. “The quality of the joints should be reviewed at least every 5 to 10 years and it should be assumed that the replacement of the compressible filler be on the same time frame.”
The cost of the work, at the time of the 2019 report, was estimated at $300,000 to $400,000, including “materials and labor for the selective demolition, slab joint replacement, concrete repair work, power-washing and coating surfaces of all the concrete,” the report said. That number also included a profit margin, overhead, contingency and “general construction conditions,” the report said.
Rodrick, in comments to Patch, said new bid specifications will be drafted based on the findings of the engineer his administration asked to look at the garage.
“The prior administration left it like that for their entire time in office. Like everything else they dropped the ball on, we will fix it, but we will not spend $500,000 to paint the garage. These repairs will be a fraction of that cost,” Rodrick said.
He insisted the concrete repairs that are needed are “a small fraction of the cost” of the project.
“The paint company was subbing them out and we would have been paying a lot more for the repair and $500,000 for unnecessary painting. The engineer we hired will also make sure all companies get proper notice,” he said. “I am giving a second look and preserving much-needed capital.”
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